Embrasse Moi
by DoctorPeeves
Summary: ESCORT AU Grace has a wedding to attend and no one to go with, but Will is too busy to go with her. However, he has a friend who owes him a favour, an escort he knows as K. Grace is desperate, and accepts, but what will happen when she finds out K is not exactly what she imagined? Grace/Karen


**This idea came to me during a re-watch of Moulin Rouge, and there will definitely be some Moulin Rouge inspired scenes during the course of this story. I do not own Will and Grace, or Moulin Rouge**

* * *

Grace scowled at the invite that she'd found under a pile of sketches whilst she'd been in the middle of her bi-annual attempt to tidy her office. She'd completely forgotten about Hannah Berkovich's wedding, which wasn't entirely surprising, considering she'd got the invite four months ago; since then she had got engaged to Danny, and left him at the altar a few days later. When the invite had arrived, she hadn't been sure she really wanted to go. She barely remembered Hannah, except as one of the girls who called her 'Gross Adler' (and since all the girls in their year had, that didn't exactly make Hannah stick in her mind), and what little she did remember suggested it was likely that everyone Hannah had ever known would be invited to this wedding. However, Danny had encouraged her to go, and take him as her plus one, to show the girls she'd gone to high school with how sophisticated she now was.

The problem right now was that it was two days before the wedding, and Grace could not think of a way to not go to the wedding without making it obvious that she had been dumped (or worse, some of the girls from high school would absolutely think that she'd not actually been seeing anyone when she had initially RSVP'd, and had been unable to find anyone to go with her in the ensuing four months). Of course, she could always go alone.

She was unable to stop the shudder that went through her at that thought. Turning up in front of all the high school bullies, thirty and without a date? Unthinkable. She let out a frustrated sigh. If she could have remembered about this wedding earlier in the month since leaving Danny, she wouldn't be having this problem now. Or if she'd written it down in her planner, she would have seen it by now and that would have reminded her. Danny had been right about one thing: she needed an assistant. An assistant would have reminded her about Hannah's wedding, and then she would have had time to think up a reasonable excuse for not going, or found someone else to go with her.

A smile spread across Grace's face. That was an idea. Take someone else with her. Obviously that someone else would be Will. She'd tell him they were just going along as two friends, he hated when she made him pretend to be her boyfriend. But when they got there, she could tell everyone that they were dating. They were practically a married couple anyway, and as long as he didn't get into a long conversation with anyone, Will would never need to know. She chuckled slightly. This plan was fool-proof.

* * *

"What d'ya mean you can't come with me?" Grace stared at Will in horror. This was not how the conversation was supposed to go. Had he not got the memo?  
"Grace, I'm not available to do things with you all the time. I'm at Joe and Larry's for the weekend, I've been telling you about it for the past three weeks, do you not listen to me?"  
"Will, I didn't remember I had a wedding to go to, you really think I was going to remember that you had plans?" She sighed. "Look, if this is some elaborate way to get out of going because you're worried I'm going to pretend we're a couple, then you can put those worries aside, because I'm not." Behind her back she had her fingers crossed, desperately hoping he'd fall for it. Instead, he just shook his head.  
"I'm not lying, Grace. I'm busy this weekend. You'll just have to find someone else."  
"Yeah, like I have tons of friends ready to go with me at a moment's notice," Grace muttered under her breath.

There was silence for a few moments as they both thought, and then inspiration struck Will.  
"If it's just as a friend, then I've got the perfect person for you. An escort who owes me a favour." Grace stared at Will, unsure that she'd heard him correctly.  
"An escort? Will, I can't pay a prostitute to go to a wedding with me."  
"First, you won't be paying, it's a favour so it should be free; and second, escorts and prostitutes are different things. Especially this one. Very high class, interesting conversation, you'll get on great together. There'll be no sex, just someone to look gorgeous next to you. Without overshadowing you, you're both attractive, just in different ways." Grace narrowed her eyes at Will, suspicious about that last comment, certain he was just trying to flatter her ego, but she decided to let it pass. As a plan went, this one seemed alright. It was someone Will knew, and seemed to think that Grace would get on with, and it was also someone who would probably be happy to go along with Grace's plan to pretend to be a couple. Still, she had the entirety of Thursday to make up her mind about it.

"Alright, I'll take the number, but that doesn't mean I'm going through with this. Why does an escort owe you a favour?"  
"Oh, I got K off a soliciting charge a couple months ago. Simple misunderstanding, and also how I learnt the difference between prostitutes and escorts. Can't be soliciting if there is no intention to exchange sex for money." He pulled out his address book, flipping to the correct entry and passing it over to Grace. "That's the number: K. Delaney."

Grace scrawled down the details, and frowned at the name.  
"Doesn't K have a first name?"  
"Probably, but I never got told it." Seeing Grace's puzzled look, he expanded. "It was one of those cases the police send me sometimes, in the paperwork it was all 'the defendant this' and 'Delaney that'. By the time we actually met, it seemed a bit rude to ask for a first name." Will glanced at his watch. "Look, if we want to catch tonight's screening of Rush Hour, we need to leave now." As they grabbed their coats, Will smiled to himself. Something told him Grace and K would get along well, and if he was right, then hopefully they'd spend time together again after the wedding. After all, he was Grace's only close friend, it'd be good for her to spend more time with another woman.

* * *

It was late afternoon, and all Grace had managed to accomplish was breaking the fax machine. At least, that was all she'd accomplished in terms of things that related to her job. If you counted fantasising about an escort she'd never met, then she had accomplished an incredible amount today.

All she had to go on was the name K. Delaney, but that hadn't held back her imagination. Initially, she'd been trying to work out what the 'K' stood for. In an ideal world, it would be for Kain, or Kaleb (maybe not the traditional spellings, but she'd honestly take whatever level of Jewish she could get), but as long as it didn't stand for something like Keith, or Kevin, she'd be happy (although, with a surname like Delaney, even Keith sounded like quite a fancy name).

She'd then moved on to imagining what he would be like. Tall, with dark hair, and soft alabaster skin. Grace couldn't quite settle on an eye colour, but definitely an interesting shade of something. He'd be glamourous, with a presence that you'd notice as soon as he walked into a room, and that you'd never quite forget, even long after he was gone.

Of course, he'd fall madly in love with her the moment they met. At the wedding, everybody would be wanting to get his attention, but he'd only have eyes for her. For several months after that, he'd keep making ridiculous excuses to see her, until it eventually culminated in him declaring his undying love for her. And then she'd have to let him down gently, but even so she'd break his heart. Probably in the pouring rain.

Grace's eyes flicked over to the scrap of paper that had K's number written on it. None of her thoughts could come true if she didn't ring that number. She wasn't stupid. She knew it was highly unlikely any of it would come true. And that was what had been preventing her from calling all day. It wouldn't be the end of the world if she went to a wedding with a fairly generic looking guy and never saw him again. After all, she'd done it before, with some guy called Todd, who she'd dated specifically so she didn't have to attend a wedding alone (honestly, the biggest problem here was how she kept ending up being single with weddings to go to). The difference was, with Todd, she'd had a couple dates before-hand to get to know him, to make sure she liked him. With K, they weren't going to meet until the moment they were both getting into the car to drive to the wedding venue. What if she hated him?

She sighed heavily, laying her head down on her desk. Why was she like this? No one else in the world overthought as much as she did. The most likely outcome was that they'd meet, go to the wedding, have a perfectly pleasant time, and then never see each other again. And was that really such a bad thing? Really, all K was there for was to stop people speculating about why she was still single.

At that thought, Grace sat up, and was reaching for her office phone without really being aware what she was doing. All K really needed to do was be present to stop people gossiping about the state of Grace's love life, liking or disliking each other didn't come into it. With that thought, she punched the numbers into the phone, before she could change her mind.

The phone reached its fifth ring, and Grace's nerves kicked in. She was just debating hanging up when somebody finally picked up at the other end.  
"This is J and K's residence, J speaking. What can I do you for?" For a second, Grace was taken aback. She had never heard a man who sounded so obviously gay in her life. If K was anything like J, she was in trouble.  
"Um, I'm looking for K?"  
"So's half of Manhattan. Can I take a message?"

Taking a deep breath, Grace tried to settle herself. In all her imaginings, she hadn't actually thought through what she was going to say when she rang, and J wasn't helping.  
"Well, uh, my name is Grace Adler, I'm a friend of Will's, Will Truman, and he said K owed him a favour. You see, the problem is I have a wedding to attend this weekend, and no one to go with, and I can't go alone, so I was wondering if K would come with me." Grace rolled her eyes at herself. She had not made herself sound like she was in control of her life. But J was talking, so she focused.  
"Uh huh, uh huh, I see the issue. So, this Will Truman, is he as true of a man as his name suggests?"

"Hey, were you even paying attention to the rest of what I said?" Grace couldn't believe this. K better not be anything like this, or she'd kill Will for getting her mixed up in this.  
"No need to shriek," J responded, sounding like a petulant child. "I heard you, wedding this weekend, no one to go with, it's all a bit sad." Grace barely had time to let out an offended gasp before J had moved on. "The diary's clear for this weekend, but I'll had to double check when K gets back, make sure nothing's come up during the day. What's the time scale?"  
"Meet at mine about 4pm tomorrow, it's a bit of a drive to the venue, and there's a dinner that night at 8. The ceremony itself isn't until the afternoon on the Saturday, but it's at some big hall with expansive grounds. There's a party after the wedding, so I wouldn't expect to be leaving until late morning on the Sunday."  
"Uh huh, uh huh. And what's your address?"

Grace reeled off her address, and then bit her lip, unsure if her next question was really such a good idea.  
"Look, J, I know this is a bit of an odd question, but is K as obviously into men as you are?"

There was an ominous silence at the other end of the line, and Grace's hand clenched around her phone. She better not have just ruined everything.  
"I don't know what makes you jump to the conclusion I'm gay," J began, and Grace had to fight down the urge to let out a snort of laughter, "I mean I am, but there's no need to assume things. You've no need to worry though, K is as bisexual as they come." Grace breathed out a sigh of relief. The last thing she needed was an obviously gay man escorting her.  
"Will you ring to let me know what K decides?"  
"Of course, you'll know right after I do. Gotta go, you interrupted my butt clenches." Abruptly the dial tone sounded, and Grace slowly put her receiver down. J was very odd, but as far as she could tell, the conversation had gone well. As long as K's diary was clear, she, Grace Adler, had just hired her first ever escort.

* * *

Karen was not in the best of moods when she finally made it back to her and Jack's apartment. Simon had got far too clingy, he'd have to go down in her blacklist. She hated doing that, but it couldn't always be helped. The problem wasn't clients developing feelings for her, the problem was when those feelings turned into a horrible tangled mess of jealousy. Simon had managed to control his jealousy for longer than most, but inevitably it ended up with tears and begging and desperate pleas to give up being an escort, to just settle for one person. So Simon would end up on her blacklist, like so many before him, and she'd no longer respond to his calls.

It's not like she was in this business because it was her life's ambition. Chance had brought her into being an escort, bumping into the right people (or the wrong people, according to some) when she'd been newly arrived in New York. Being an escort paid an awful lot of money though, and she liked the lifestyle she could afford with that sort of money. She wasn't going to give up that lifestyle just because someone had feelings for her. She would only give up being an escort if she found another career that paid the same kind of money, or if she married someone rich. And that someone rich could quite easily be Stanley Walker.

Not that anything was set in stone. No one would ever accuse her of loving Stan, or even being fond of him, but she did like him. He made her laugh, and he bought her nice things. He wasn't the kind of person she had imagined marrying when she was a little girl, but that had all been just childish dreams, and she had long ago realised that love was over-rated, and didn't last the same way that money did.

She hadn't intended to have a relationship with Stan when they'd first met. She'd long had a rule about not having sex with her clients after a couple of early mistakes (it was amazing how much quicker jealousy grew when sex was involved), but somewhere along the line Stan had stopped being just another client, and had become her lover. He was the only long-term client she'd had, who had an attraction to her, who hadn't ended up becoming insanely jealous, though she supposed that was because he knew that after every job she was coming home to him, metaphorically speaking.

Currently, though, Stan was the other reason for her bad mood. She had a date with him this evening, even though she'd wanted to have the night to herself. She'd managed to get a clear weekend for the first time in many months, and had been planning on starting it that night, but Stan had rang that morning and had somehow convinced her to agree to seeing him. And now she was running late because of Simon and the tears of misery. The delighted look on Jack's face when she walked through the door did nothing to lift her mood. She walked straight past him, with just a grunt by way of hello, letting his words wash over her without really paying attention.

"Hey Kare, you had a new client ring today. Said her name was Grace Antler, and that you owed her friend Will Truman some sort of favour. She's got a wedding for the entire weekend, and is single and doesn't want to go alone. It's all a bit sad and pathetic, really. Scrabbling around for a date the day before you have to go. I wonder what's wrong with her. Anyway, I said your diary was clear, but I'd have to double check with you. Karen, this Will Truman. Is he really a true man? Is he gay?"  
In the comparative silence of her room, Karen rolled her eyes at that last comment.  
"Yes he's gay, Jackie, but that has nothing to do with his name." She shook her head, quickly unbuttoning her blouse, and draping it over a chair. She could just imagine the exact victory dance Jack was doing because she'd confirmed Will was gay. She was unzipping her skirt as the rest of what Jack had said finally processed through her brain.

"Jack, did you say this wedding was for the entire weekend?" she asked as she marched back into the living area.  
"Yes, Kare, and can I just say the girls are looking lovely today?" Karen couldn't help but giggle at that, although she remained focused on her task, leafing through the address book by the phone until she found the number she was looking for. She dialled it, her foot tapping impatiently on the floor.

"Good afternoon, you have reached Mr Truman's office. I'm Ellen, his assistant, how can I help you?"  
"My name's Miss Delaney, I'm one of Mr Truman's clients. Would it be possible to talk to him?"  
"If you could hold for a moment, I'll check." Karen only had to wait a few moments before she heard Will's voice.  
"K, I was hoping to hear from you. How have you been?"  
"Cut the small talk, Will. When I said I owed you a favour, I meant you specifically, and I made it very clear that it would be for an evening only, not an entire weekend."  
"I know, I'm sorry, but she's my best friend, and she's in a jam."  
"That won't work on me."  
"If it wasn't for me, you'd be in prison right now."  
"Any half decent lawyer could have got me out of that mess."  
"If that were the case, there would have been no reason for you to owe me a favour."

Karen scowled. She'd known when she had offered that favour that she was going to regret it, and here she was, trying to win an argument against a lawyer.  
"Fine, I'll do it, but you'll owe me one, Will Truman."  
"Why do I owe you one?"  
"Because this was supposed to be my weekend off, and you're ruining it."  
"You're an angel, K."  
"Oh honey, no one has ever accused me of being an angel before. By the way, what's Grace's real surname? My roommate seems to think it's Antler, but that can't be right."  
"No, no, it's Adler."  
"Jewish. Now I understand why you passed on your favour to her, rather than suggesting she pay."  
"You know, I want to tell you that's just a vicious stereotype, but I can't. You are a lifesaver though, you know that?" Karen just made a non-committal grunt, putting the phone down.

She turned, and Jack was standing next to her, one of her dresses in his arms.  
"Thanks, poodle," she said, smiling her first genuine smile of the day. He quickly helped her into the dress, and handed over her handbag.  
"You're a sweetie, Jack. Could you possibly ring back Grace Adler and let her know that I'll go with her? I haven't got time, I'm late to meet Stan."  
"Of course, Kare." She patted him on the cheek and headed towards the door, pausing just before she opened it.  
"Jackie, you know how you told me that you thought the whole thing sounded quite sad and pathetic? You didn't say that to Grace, did you?"  
"I don't really remember. Probably."  
"You might want to apologise for that when you speak to her, okay?" As soon as she had seen Jack's reluctant nod, she left the apartment.

* * *

Grace was getting ready to leave her office when her phone rang. Moving slightly quicker than she would have admitted to anyone else, she snatched up the receiver.  
"Grace Adler Designs."  
"Designs? What? Never mind, it's J. You'll be pleased to know the weekend's clear, K's all yours."  
"Brilliant! I mean, fantastic, I mean… The times are fine, and everything?"  
"Huh. Forgot to mention those, but the entire three days were clear, so I can't see why not."  
"Okay, that's great, thanks."  
"One other thing, K told me to apologise for calling you sad and pathetic when you rang."  
"You didn't call me pathetic."  
"Oh. Well, I absolutely meant to, so sorry. Anyways, gotta go, I'm meeting Fernando soon." Again, Grace was left with the dialling tone, and as she put the phone down, she put her hand over her stomach. She'd never had butterflies quite like this before. She was slightly apprehensive about what kind of person would be friends with J, but all in all, the whole thing was very exciting. She couldn't wait to meet K, and see if the entire thing would be as incredible as she hoped.


End file.
